Sunday, June 27, 2010

Completely and Totally in Awe

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feelWill I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be stillWill I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fallWill I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at allI can only imagine

These are the lyrics to the song Chris and I chose for our unity candle song on our wedding day. Caring for three small children with a life-threatening disease has given me more reason to believe that we picked this song not because it was popular at the time or that we thought of each other when we heard the first few lines. Lately, I can't help but think of the significance of this song in our lives at this particular moment in God's time, in God's plan for us. All this pain and suffering we are enduring is temporary. In heaven, we are promised to be glorified to complete perfection. And the sacrament of marriage points us to eternal life. It is a foreshadowing, a glimmer of the great love we will experience with our Maker.

I began this blog with the thought of "in awe."

It had nothing to do with the lyrics to "I Can Only Imagine."

It had everything to do with the generosity of our friends. I am completely and totally in awe of friends close and not-so close who have offered some pretty amazing things to our family right now. We seriously have the best friends. And I think after I explain why, you'll completely agree with me.

One friend has offered to help with laundry. Another, to watch my kids for an afternoon. And another, taking us out to dinner. And the friends who have offered their humble prayers, I can't even begin to count. If you're reading this and you're one of these friends: thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. We can never "repay" you, but you hold a special place in our hearts.

It's overwhelming how much God takes care of us sometimes. But he will not be out done in generosity. He continually finds ways to bless us for caring for these special children of His.

It's getting late and tomorrow my baby turns 5. Wow, five! Everyone said the time would fly by and they were right. 5 years ago I was changed forever. And tomorrow I'll change again. Thank you God, for blessing our family with the gift of Cayden. I've leave you with this poem that I keep on our fridge. It is near and dear to my heart. It is what I hope to live every day.

Special Child

by Sharon Harris

You weren't like other children, And God was well aware, You'd need a caring family, With love enough to share.

And so He sent you to us, And much to our surprise, You haven't been a challenge, But a blessing in disguise.

Your winning smiles and laughter, The pleasures you impart, Far outweigh your special needs, And melt the coldest heart.

We're proud that we've been chosen, To help you learn and grow, The joy that you have brought us, Is more than you can know.

A precious gift from Heaven, A treasure from above, A child who's taught us many things, But most of all - "Real Love"

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About Me

I am only in my mid 20's but can already tell God has great things planned for me. I have been working as a youth minister for 4 years in my home parish of St. John the Baptist. As if leading teens to Christ isn't hard enough, I am a busy mom blessed with 4 children. My oldest son Cayden, daughter Trinity and youngest son Cooper have a genetic disease, cystic fibrosis. They both inspire me and have forever changed me. Until there is a cure our family fights with them to defeat this terrible disease. But we praise God for the blessings he has brought to us and for the miracle of Colin, his younger brother. He is healthy! I am a wife to the greatest man, Chris. Everyday he reminds me to live life to its fullest.

***It's also quite normal that all three would be on some form of antibiotic for 10-14 days.

This is my husband Chris. We met nearly a decade ago at a church retreat. I knew I was going to marry him the day I met him (no joke). We immediately fell in love and found that we had nearly everything in common. We started a list of those things and to do this day I still have the list. Ironically, we also both have genetic mutations for cystic fibrosis. When we were married for just 6 short months we went through a house fire. He rebuilt our lives (and a new home) literally from the ground up in just 6 short months. He is my best friend, a wonderful father, and he gets me through the tough days with his wittiness and sense of humor.

Our Boys

Cayden was born in June of 2005. An uneventful birth. To our shock and devastation he was diagnosed with Cystic fibrosis just 3 weeks later. He has only had 1 hospital stay in his short 5 years of life. He would eat spaghetti every day of the week if we let him and he never takes no for an answer. He has the strongest soul of anyone I know.

Colin "CW" short for "Colin William" was born in Jan of 2007. Weighing in at 10 lbs even he tipped the scales (and our hearts). 7 days later we received negative results on a sweat test. After praying much to John Paul the Great, we claim Colin to be a miracle of JPII's intercession. Colin is shy and a follower. He religiously carries 3 silky blankets affectionately called his "blue b's" with him everyone he goes (think Linus from Charlie Brown). He says "my" instead of "I" in all of his sentences. He adores being a little brother.

Cooper is already proving to be a strong-willed young man. Born on April 26th, 2010 Cooper was also diagnosed with CF just two short days after his birth on St. Gianna's feast day (a saint we prayed to during his pregnancy). After a bowel obstruction and 2 enemas, he was able to come home after 7 days in the NICU.

Our Princess

Trinity was born on May 17, 2008. Oddly enough we had already settled on her name way in advance, but she chose to make her entrance into the world on Trinity Sunday. She has taught us much about the Cross. She also was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 2 weeks. "Trin, Trin" as we affectionately call her is a drama queen, mama's girl, and ever so charming in the morning. We have never seen any other toddler make quite the mess with food in her hair as she does.